I will never forget the day my cousin Tekoa and I were picking up lunch from Pollo Tropical. She was sitting in the passenger seat flipping through the pages of a magazine. She quickly stopped while looking at an article featuring Senator (at that time) Barack Obama. She said, “He is going to run for president.” My first thought was, “I have no clue who Barack Obama is.” My response was, “Wow!” We talked a few more minutes about Obama and perused through the photos.

Four years after that conversation, Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the United States of America. He went through a process to set him in preparation to lead our nation. I can not begin to fathom the barriers he had to fight along the way. He not only had to endure the stress of fully learning the United States’ political system, but also overcoming racial inequalities. In addition, listening to those who told him he couldn’t accomplish such a difficult task. I’m pretty sure President Obama had enough opposition to not try, but thankfully he did!
President Obama’s perseverance gave hope to many people who stopped believing. He rewrote history for many lives. His waiting process groomed him into something great. This is a perfect example of what’s available to us. We must never take our refining time for granted. If God has confirmed a specific result to you, hold on to it! Our wait does not necessarily mean no, it means “wait.” You must continue to work on the task before you with all diligence. God knows when it’s time for us to be presented before others.
Think about this… What great impacts will you make after the waiting process? Allow God to groom you for his glory.

1 Peter 5:7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.